When The Marque Hotel opens  next week, it promises to deliver a fresh new take on dining in Christchurch.

The Marque Hotel Christchurch’s restaurant, simply called Fresh, sets a new direction in dining where the emphasis is on locally sourced, fresh seasonal produce.

“The focus is on food that is healthy and nourishing,” says Fresh’s talented executive chef Adrian Lowrey. “What we offer is an innovative, contemporary menu that marries the best local produce with the freshest flavours.”

Before taking on the job of executive chef at Fresh, Mr Lowrey was chef at the highly rated London Street Restaurant in Lyttelton. For six years prior to that he was part of the award-winning team of chefs at The George hotel in Christchurch.

“The Marque Hotel Christchurch is a green hotel and we’ve carried that theme into the restaurant. We’re using local suppliers wherever possible and the emphasis is on fresh seasonal produce and food that is in tune with the seasons,” Mr Lowrey says.

“The restaurant is designed to give diners the chance to have a direct influence on the food offering. We’ve created tapas and dessert menus where diners can sample tasting plates.”

“We’ve also left the kitchen open so that diners can watch their food being prepared and talk to the chefs. We want people to be able to see where their food is coming from and to bring the restaurant alive,” Mr Lowrey said.

“Fresh is all about providing high quality food in a relaxed setting. It’s about tailoring dishes to our diners’ tastes and delivering a memorable dining experience,” Mr Lowrey says.

The Marque Hotel Christchurch opens on March 18 with 171 guest rooms and suites. It is located in the heart of Christchurch’s central business district at 166 Gloucester Street, corner of Cathedral Junction and Gloucester Street, opposite New Regent Street. Telephone (64 3) 943 3888.

Show Managing Director Dave Mee says the thousands of visitors will be treated to the biggest and best show in its 15-year history.

“For the first time Ellerslie will have two international feature gardens by multi award-winning Chelsea Flower Show designer Chris Beardshaw from England and international award-winning Japanese designer Koji Ninomiya. They headline a stellar list of garden designers at this year’s Show.

Mr Mee says Chris Beardshaw’s magnificent An Englishman’s Retreat garden will have almost 10,000 plants, including 4500 annuals and 3000 herbaceous plants, with loads of colour and plenty of fragrance, making it a real feast for all the senses, while Koji Ninomiya’s traditional Japanese garden will be a striking contrast.

Christchurch bought New Zealand’s premier garden event in November 2007 to reclaim and enhance Christchurch’s image as the Garden City and to develop Ellerslie into one of the world’s most prestigious garden shows.

Mr Mee says Ellerslie is well recognised as a prestigious event on the international calendar of flower shows, evident with the large contingent of international media, horticultural experts and visitors attending this year’s show.

Find out more a www.ellerslieflowershow.co.nz

The concert is a fundraiser for Project Island Song, which aims to eradicate predators such as rats and stoats and restore birdsong to all the beautiful islets in the eastern Bay of Islands, so visitors can not only enjoy the local atmosphere while they celebrate, but also help a really worthy cause!

Boats will be departing from Paihia & Russell at 3pm, 5pm & 7pm, returning 1am

Food & beverages will be available throughout the event from the restaurant, and discounted bar tokens are available for pre-purchase.

Tickets: $30 event entry or $70 including return boat cruise available from Explore NZ Offices in Auckland & Paihia, Otehei Bay Restaurant or online: www.explorenz.co.nz

Find out more about Project Island Song here.

Last year’s gold award-winning Ellerslie designer Carl Pickens is asking all New Zealanders a simple question: “What can we do to make the world a better place?”. He’s taking a novel approach to garden design by asking the entire population of New Zealand to go on line and take a few minutes responding to the Ellerslie Question.

Pickens says: “As a human race, we seem to be at a tipping point where if we continue the way we are, our very existence and experience of life on earth is under threat. To make the world a better place, the answers have to come from all of us; everyone has something to offer.”

The sustainable landscape architect and organic horticulturalist needs at least 2000 responses to his question by the end of January to help create his exhibition garden for the Ellerslie International Flower Show in March.

Details of the garden design are being kept under wraps until the Show, however, everyone who responds will find their answer “embedded in the design”, he says.

The 2010 exhibition garden will be built using the same sustainable principles within a contemporary setting which won him gold at this year’s Show. Carl’s award-winning 2009 Ellerslie garden, Take Five, featured a rain garden, ecodeck, green walls and no-mow lawn, and showcased a range of ideas on sustainability.

Go online at www.oneearthmatters.co.nz to enter a response.

Check out the Ellerslie International Flower Show website for further information www.ellerslieflowershow.co.nz

This museum tells the intriguing stories of Wellington’s social, cultural and maritime history. You’ll find it in the historic Bond Store on Queens Wharf. Housed in an original 19^th century building, it’s a perfect place to view the extensive collection of relics and curios – weird, wild and wonderful – from Wellington’s colourful past.

The collections are as diverse as textiles, clothing and archives to objects and taonga, art works and photographs, as well as that most fascinating category of artefacts – ephemera.

The Museum is celebrating its ten-year anniversary with a special exhibition – 10 Years in Wonderland – an expose of the inner world of the museum. With unusual objects from the museum collection on display, this quirky and whimsical exhibition takes you into a wonderland of hidden treasures.

10 Years in Wonderland 21 Nov - 23 May

www.museumofwellington.co.nz

World Travel Awards founder and President, Graham Cooke, says: “ Today’s winners have not only been recognised as the best in the region, but they have proved themselves to be the best in the world and the number one choice of professionals and consumers alike”.

Treetops Lodge, a member of the Small Luxury Hotels of the World, offers luxury accommodation in a lush indigenous forest setting. Its dedication to eco-friendly design and operation make it a leader in responsible tourism worldwide. The lodge was designed to complement its setting amongst 2,500 acres of native forest in the central thermal region of New Zealand, providing a luxury retreat as well as a variety of exclusive wilderness experiences.

John Sax, owner of Treetops Lodge, notes that “with the Lodge winning Australasia’s Responsible Tourism Award, combined with the title of New Zealand’s Leading Luxury Lodge, we have gone on to prove once again that eco-friendly does not mean compromising luxury ”.

To find out more about Treetops Lodge, visit their website: www.treetops.co.nz

www.worldtravelawards.com

The Orlova South is new and unique to New Zealand, combining a superior deluxe coach with incredible memorable excursions and once-in-a-lifetime events at places along the way.

On board you’ll enjoy unparallelled luxury, unmatched personal attention and a chance to indulge yourself at exclusive five-star properties. Take excursions as lavish and exciting as you choose to make them.

Each tour offers the opportunity for an adventurous and exciting, laid-back and decadent experience – there’s something to tempt everyone. Breathtaking scenic flights, a stunning sunset, tours of glaciers; explore Doubtful Sounds, swim with dolphins, taste award-winning wines, have a BBQ lunch en route, and go on behind the scenes for chocolate making and breweries, with a little “product sampling” thrown in.

The top wine in each variety receives a gold medal, and all medal winners in each category are then judged again to decide the major category award. There are 14 individual variety trophies, as well as the top trophies: Champion Wine of the Show, Sustainable Wine, Best Open White Wine, Best Open Red Wine, Best Exhibition White or Sparkling Wine and Best Exhibition Red Wine. All sustainably grown and produced medal-winning wines can compete to win the Sustainable Wine of the Show Trophy.

Eligibility to enter for the trophies depends on the number of cases on sale at the time of the competition – large wineries selling more than 250 cases can compete for the Champion Wine of the Show, Best Open White Wine, Best Open Red wine or one of the 14 varietal trophies. Smaller wineries (50 or more cases) may enter the Exhibition categories, competing for Best Exhibition White or Sparkling Wine and Best Exhibition Red Wine.

This years top award winners:
Air New Zealand Champion Wine of the Show Trophy
Julicher Pinot Noir 2008

Bell Gully Champion Sustainable Wine Trophy
Olssens Annieburn Riesling 2009

Fairfax Media Champion Open Red Wine Trophy
Waipara Hills Southern Cross Selection Central Otago Pinot Noir 2008

New World Champion Open White Wine Trophy
Forrest The Doctors’ Riesling 2009

Corbans Viticulture Champion Exhibition White or Sparkling Wine Trophy
Villa Maria Reserve Marlborough Chardonnay 2006

Kapiti Champion Exhibition Red Wine Trophy
Georgetown Vineyard Pinot Noir 2007

To view other awards, and find out stockists of the winners, visit the awards website www.airnzwineawards.co.nz

Whale Watch Kaikoura chief operating officer Kauahi Ngapoura said he was overwhelmed by the award, which saw the South Island-based operation edge out tourism giants including fellow finalists the City of Cape Town, Royal Caribbean Cruises and SeaFrance.

“I am honoured to accept the award on behalf of Whale Watch Kaikoura, and New Zealand. To be chosen as the best against the world’s leading responsible tourism operators is a humbling experience,” Mr Ngapoura said.

Whale Watch Kaikoura was one of 35 organisations shortlisted for honours and among hundreds throughout the world nominated for the prestigious awards; the Whale Watch entry prompted the following comments from the judges:
“Rarely do we see a tourism initiative developed from the ground up by a local community to such a successful and grand scale – growing from modest beginnings to securing a joint venture with Sea World on the Gold Coast of Australia to provide their whale watching.

Whale Watch Kaikoura provides consistently responsible whale watching tours with minimal impacts. The founding of the enterprise by four Maori families has demonstrated that the local Maori community can not only grow a considerable tourism business, but, more significantly, use that business to buy back their ancestral land for the benefit of the indigenous people and their cultural identity.”

www.whalewatch.co.nz

The Prime Minister, John Key, will be in Kaikoura on November 5th to launch Wawahia - the sixth boat in Whale Watch Kaikoura’s fleet.

Whale Watch Kaikoura is one of the country’s leading tourist attractions and a local success story in its foundation as a community-based initiative. Its success is based on its commitment to sustainable business practice and its support of local business and community goals, reflected in the choice of name for the new vessel – Wawahia, in remembrance of Rangi Wawahia Solomon, father of Whale Watch Kaikoura founder Bill Solomon.

After a Powhiri (welcome), the Prime Minster will unveil a plaque celebrating the event, and will then be treated, with other guests, to a Whale Watch tour. The visit will conclude with a lunch function.

Whale Watch Kaikoura website: www.whalewatch.co.nz